Team Hoyt New England's fastest members hope for Boston Marathon run

Tuesday

Dec 10, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Kim Ring TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

When Nick Draper and Ted Painter chose the name for their running team, it became more than a play on words.

Team "In the Nick of Time," currently the fastest members of Team Hoyt New England, came together at a time when Mr. Painter, 42, was rethinking his running, pondering whether the long training sessions, marathons, 5Ks, 10Ks and the related travel that took time from his family were fulfilling enough.

"I was starting to feel like it was a waste of time," he said. "It made me happy, but it didn't seem to have any other purpose."

Mr. Draper, 24, and living in a Southbridge group home, had undergone surgery that left him unable to compete in the wheelchair track and field events he'd once done at the Massachusetts Hospital School in Canton. He still had a need for speed, but no way to fulfill it.

Earlier this year, Mr. Painter was talking with a friend and fellow marathoner who suggested he join Team Hoyt. She'd been working with Team Hoyt New England, part of the larger Team Hoyt started by Dick Hoyt, whose son, Rick, a spastic quadriplegic, has taken part in hundreds of races with his dad lending the muscles. The team was recently honored in Boston with a statue depicting father and son.

Mr. Painter had seen "Dick and Rick" running together and had always been inspired. The Hoyts have been seeking other runners to become partners with athletes who can't run on their own. Mr. Painter "absolutely said yes" and started making plans to join the running team he so respected.

"I don't think anyone can watch that video of Dick carrying his son in a triathlon and not get a little misty," he said.

And so, just in time — in the nick of time, really — Mr. Painter changed how he ran. Instead of trying to cross the finish line first, he was now trying to cross second, putting Mr. Draper ahead of him.

Their first race, a 5-miler, was a new experience for both men. It was also new and frightening for Mr. Draper's mother, Sheila Smith, who said that having to prepare her son for weekend races suddenly had her feeling "like every other mother," and she was a nervous wreck.

Mr. Draper had no worries at all, trusting that Mr. Painter, someone he'd met moments before the race, wouldn't fall and lose control of what was basically an oversized jogging stroller.

"He kept telling me to go faster," Mr. Painter said.

"He's damn fast," Mr. Draper said, his words drawn out but his grin unaffected because of Pelizaeus Merzbacher disease.

Mr. Draper was born with the disease, which is an inability of the body to form the covering that protects one's nerves. It affects the ability to transmit nerve impulses. Two of his uncles also had the disease, which Ms. Smith said is genetic, prevalent in men and, she believes, sometimes misdiagnosed as other, better known diseases.

Mr. Draper is an only child who loves shopping — and it matters not for what. He is interested in lights of all kinds and once had his mother follow a truck driver until they could let him know he had a taillight out.

"He could get stopped by the cops," said Mr. Draper, who is also an animal lover.

He gets along fine with Mr. Painter, a former Army Ranger who advocates for veterans, sings and plays rockabilly music on his guitar, helps with his wife's endeavors for angiosarcoma research, and is the father of one son and two daughters.

Mr. Painter said he has become a better runner since teaming up with Mr. Draper. At times when he would have made excuses for running slower or even walking, he now pushes harder because someone is counting on him and he doesn't want to let anyone down.

"Even on my training runs, I can't run with excuses if I feel off," Mr. Painter said. "Because he wants to win."

After a few races, Team In the Nick of Time was loaned a racing chair that made running and pushing much easier. The chairs are custom made by Michelangelo DiDonato for Team Hoyt, and the men feel very lucky to have been chosen for the loan.

They were making final adjustments to the chair just before a 10K race in Sturbridge on Oct. 6 when their name would again prove fitting.

They went to the starting line and realized the race had started without them. They spoke with the officials, then took off, probably a full quarter mile behind and fired up.

"I went into that race very motivated because I realized I had been coming up just short of winning my age group," Mr. Painter said. "I was thinking it was important to start bringing home some hardware (medals). When we missed the start, I had a reaction to that internally."

The pair, with Mr. Draper shouting encouragement, raced to the finish line not realizing they'd passed everyone else on the course and won.

Ms. Smith said she gets emotional thinking of the team crossing the finish line after a grueling marathon in Plymouth recently. They'd hoped to qualify for the Boston Marathon but the hilly course was very tough. Plenty of runners quit. Mr. Painter said he had slowed on one hill to the point where he thought he'd need to walk.

Watching the wind go out of Mr. Painter's sails when he learned they hadn't qualified was devastating to Ms. Smith, who tears up just talking about it.

"He felt he let Nick down," she said.

While Mr. Painter is already qualified for Boston, he doesn't want to run without Mr. Draper, so they'll try for a qualifying time in Hyannis in February, praying there will be good weather, a smoother course and some spots left open for Boston.

Like the Hoyts, Mr. Painter had decided that the 2013 Boston Marathon would be his last, but after the bombings, they've all changed their minds. While Mr. Painter finished the race, the Hoyts had to stop after the explosions.

Robert LaPointe, Team Hoyt New England's race coordinator, finished but was not far from the bombs. He gathered his family, pulling them into the street and away from the buildings where he felt the danger was.

He, too, will run again with the team next year, feeling the race will be safer than ever.

A few weeks after the Boston Marathon, Team Hoyt New England will host a big event in Holland, the Hoyts' hometown. Offshoots of the team from around the country will converge at Holland Elementary School for a road race and other events, Mr. LaPointe said. He urged any runners or handicapped athletes who need to pair up with a runner to visit the Team Hoyt New England page on Facebook to learn more.

While Team in the Nick of Time is currently the fastest Team Hoyt New England pairing, Mr. Painter and Mr. Draper want some competition.

Running with Mr. Draper has had an impact far beyond the two men.

Mr. Painter was at a parent-teacher night recently when he learned his daughter has been going above and beyond to help a fellow student who is disabled, and the teacher noted that she picked up on it after the race team began competing, with their families cheering them on.

It has become so much more than a race for Mr. Painter and Mr. Draper.

Still, Mr. Draper can't wait for the Boston Marathon and is eager to qualify. His mother will be with Mr. Painter's wife, Corrie, who has, from experience, mapped out the best spots to catch the runners throughout the race. Ms. Smith will lace up her son's trademark bright yellow sneakers so she can see him coming, and Mr. Painter and Mr. Draper will listen for her cheers, which they can always hear well before they reach the finish line.

Contact Kim Ring at kring@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimmring